Current and future public health is characterized by the increase of chronic and degenerative diseases, corresponding to the worldwide ageing of the population. The increasing prevalence of these conditions together with the long incubation period of the chronic diseases and the continual technological innovations, offer new opportunities to develop strategies for early diagnosis.
Public Health has an important mandate to critically assess the promises and the pitfalls of disease screening strategies. This MOOC will help you understand important concepts for screening programs that will be explored through a series of examples that are the most relevant to public health today. We will conclude with expert interviews that explore future topics that will be important for screening.
By the end of this MOOC, students should have the competency needed to be involved in the scientific field of screening, and understand the public health perspective in screening programs.
This MOOC has been designed by the University of Geneva and the University of Lausanne.
This MOOC has been prepared under the auspices of the Ecole romande de santé publique (www.ersp.ch) by Prof. Fred Paccaud, MD, MSc, Head of the Institute of Social and Preventive Medicine in Lausanne (www.iumsp.ch), in collaboration with Professor Antoine Flahault, MD, PhD, head of the Institute of Global Health, Geneva (https://www.unige.ch/medecine/isg/en/) and Prof. Gillian Bartlett-Esquilant (McGill University, Quebec/ Institute of Social and Preventive Medicine, Lausanne).

From the lesson

Screening in Low and Middle-Income Countries and Migrants

The globalization of non-communicable diseases is a major challenge in low and middle income countries (LMIC). At the same time, migration is occurring between these countries and high income countries. Screening for cardiovascular diseases and for cancer in low and middle income countries will be presented and discussed. In addition, the special consideration of screening of migrants from these countries will be addressed. This module is given by: Professor Pascal Bovet from the Division of Chronic Diseases at the Institute of Social and Preventive Medicine in Lausanne; Dr. Catherine Sauvaget from the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) in Lyon, France; and Professor Patrick Bodenmann from the Polimedical University Clinic and head of the Centre for Vulnerable Populations. A quiz will complete this module.

Meet the Instructors

Antoine Flahault

Professor of Public Health and Director of the Institute of Global Health (Faculty of Medicine, University of Geneva) and co-Director of Centre Virchow-Villermé (Université Paris Descartes)University of Geneva and Université Paris Descartes – Sorbonne Paris Cité

Fred Paccaud (In Partnership with UNIGE)

Professor of epidemiology and public health and Director of the Institute of social and preventive medicineLausanne University Hospital

Gillian Bartlett-Esquilant

Professor of Epidemiology and Research and Graduate Program Director and Associate Chair for the Department of Family Medicine at McGill University.University of Lausannne and McGill University

[MUSIC]

Welcome to Module 7 in the course Disease Screening in Public Health,

where you will learn about screening in the specific context of low and

middle income countries.

We will also consider the case of screening in high income countries for

immigrants from low and middle income countries.

If you completed Module 6, you should understand,

the main concepts related to public mental health.

The importance of screening in an ageing population along with areas where this may

be controversial.

And the link to screening and maintaining well-being.

This will help you understand the next module that explores screening of chronic

diseases, referred in this module to non-communicable diseases in limited

resource countries and special considerations,

when screening in immigrants from these countries.

In this module, we look at screening in low to middle income countries, and

with populations that originate from these countries.

This will be a presentation by several experts that include

Professor Pascal Bovet from the division of chronic diseases

at the Institute of Social and Preventive Medicine in Lausanne.

Dr. Katherine Savage from the International Agency for

Research on Cancer in Lyon, France.

And Professor Patrick Bodemen, from the Poly Medical University Clinic,

who is also the head of The Center for Funable Populations there.

Many of the topics we've explored in this course so

far have been pressing issues for high income countries.

In this module we'll consider the screening issues that are relevant,

not only for high income countries, but

topics that are specific to the case for low and middle income countries.

While infectious diseases are still very important considerations for

these countries, increasingly chronic and degenerative diseases are contributing to

an onerous double burden for public health.

Screening is an important investment, so it needs to be considered carefully

in an environment where resources are significantly constrained.

Another consideration is whether the healthcare system in these countries is

able to provide appropriate,

post-screening followup that includes diagnosis, rehabilitation, and treatment.

For low and middle income countries, the causes and

development of disease may not be understood.

And we cannot assume that it'll necessarily be the same

as what occurs in high income countries.

The focus of screening has not necessarily shifted from infectious to chronic

diseases for these countries, but this will increasingly need to be considered.

These factors will be basis for recommendations of screening in low and

middle income countries that will be developed in this module.

For high income countries, migration also presents a specific challenge for

how to screen in populations that may have originated from low to middle income

countries.

We will explore this as a case for

culturally appropriate care, using the example of tuberculosis, an infectious

disease that is an important public health concern related to immigration.

The learning objectives for this module are to identify the main non-communicable

diseases that are the most important in low and middle income countries, and

what strategies should be considered for screening.

To describe the key characteristics and benefits of the best buys for

screening of noncommunicable diseases in low and middle income countries.

And finally, to define the special considerations that should be used for